SAVAGE MASTER plays Heavy Metal.  True neon nights of magical ecstasy.  It is epic.  The band started out just six years ago and are now releasing their third full-length.  What is evident from just listening to a few of their songs is just how Metal this band is.  Everyone from the classic DIO stuff to MOTORHEAD to IRON MAIDEN is summoned into the mix.  Having a female vocalist is actually an advantage because Stacey Peak is the real deal.  Her song is enticing, enthralling, and an all-around most Metal experience.

While listening to "Myth, Magic & Steel," I couldn't help but think of another band I've covered for two albums, here at Metal Temple:  SANHEDRIN.  Certainly, both obviously have female singers, but they both approach their music from a deep love of Heavy Metal.  Both bands are linked to the past, in a positive-moving formula though, and each has its own distinct sound.  While that is the case, the two being different entities altogether, it is safe to say that if one likes one, they are highly likely to enjoy the other's music as well.  This is a darker vibe than SANHEDRIN, though, even in the S&M/hooded warrior attire the band, sans Peak, dons.  In the tradition of trailblazers like Blackie Lawless and Tom G. Warrior, SAVAGE MASTER perpetuates their art with shocking imagery toeing the line between reality and the environs of some Robert E. Howard short story.

The tunes are great, really.  Despite how generic that words may seem, it perfectly sums this up.  These are savage tunes indeed, ones that imprint themselves upon a grateful memory.

The title track kicks things and is jamming hard out of the gate with a super up-tempo MOTORHEAD-Punk-ish feel.  The x factor, though, is the vocals.  Stacey Peak has so much personality, sass and crass, that songs such as this become instant classic.  The solos are epic and true to the Heavy Metal lexicon with a kind of hybridization of Randy Rhoads and Andy LaRoque occurring.  "The Devil's Ecstasy" follows and is a raucous, rowdy rocker at times hearkening back to a youthful Joan Jett with the rebellious snarl of the vocals.

The third track, "The Owl," certainly stands out for it is built on a SABBATH/CANDLEMASS type of brooding evil element constructed of minor-key progressions.  It sounds refreshing to hear a band play just cranked-up, raw, but legit classic Heavy Metal.  The vocals prove to sound equally powerful espousing pure Metal.  In the latter half of the song, the band really opens up with a Proto-Prog swagger a la early JETHRO TULL that breaks into a more traditional solo.  "Flyer of the Night" follows and has a high energy swing before the band goes on to summon a PRIEST vibe that transitions into a MAIDEN-like chorus.  That's a lot to say in a sentence but it proves that SAVAGE MASTER shares our heroes in Heavy Metal.

This is one of the most solid traditional Metal albums I've heard this year.  As it spins round, one feels transported to an arcade from 1986 - or a DIO show.  More bands should be this fun!  The final track, the aptly-titled "Warrior vs Dragon," is a Full-on Metal anthem successfully sending off a precisely momentous album.